Employers and SMSFs must prepare for Superstream

With the 30 June 2015 deadline fast approaching for medium to large employers to be SuperStream compliant, the ATO is urging these employers to act now to ensure they are SuperStream ready.

Editor: For ‘small employers’ with  19  or fewer employees, SuperStream starts from 1 July 2015 and they have until 30 June  2016 to be ready (though they can start using SuperStream earlier, if possible)

ATO’s National Program Manager of SuperStream, Philip Hind also reminded employees of these taxpayers who are members of a self-managed super fund (SMSF), that they have the same deadline.

For SuperStream to work efficiently, employees with SMSFs must provide relevant e-commerce details to their employer so they can update their payroll system.
This information includes the SMSF’s:

  • Australian Business Number (ABN);
  • bank account details; and
  • electronic service address.

Editor: By 30 June 2015, SMSFs must be able to receive employer contributions electronically in the SuperStream format if their members work for a medium or large employer.

The ATO estimates around 60% of SMSFs have already taken steps to get this done, but time is now running out for all impacted members to complete this task and ensure the information has been passed to their employer.

In the event that an SMSF member fails to provide this information to their employer in time for the employer to get ready, the employer may request that the employee completes a new choice form. Therefore, the ATO recommends that SMSFs provide these details to their employer at least 30 days prior to when the employer will start sending contributions using SuperStream, to allow enough time for the employer to manage the changes and ensure the SMSF has met their obligation and has no interruption in maintaining their contributions flow.

Mr Hind noted: "This is a one off activity and the small effort required far outweighs the risk of having contributions switched into a default fund".

What is an ‘electronic service address’?

An electronic service address provides a secure sending point for an employer and easy online retrieval point for the SMSF member.

A register of SMSF messaging service providers is available for SMSF trustees who need to set up an address, and, according to the Mr Hind: "This online delivery point is easy to set-up and often takes less than five minutes to arrange. If trustees shop around, they will find low cost or free options available in the market."

Ref: ATO media release, 25 March 2015